Enjoying Summer Beach Fun in Southern California

Summer is beach and family time. Summer is time to surf, explore the coast, swim, bodysurf, and celebrate our communion with the ocean.

Here are some places and things to do this summer in Southern California to make it a season worthy of remembrance.

Swim with Leopard Sharks: La Jolla Shores is arguably the best place to see and swim with docile schools of friendly and harmless leopard sharks. Little is known about these unusual sharks except for the fact that they find a safe haven in La Jolla’s warm and tranquil waters before they swim south to Mexico and north beyond Orange County.

Relive California’s Golden Age: Crystal Cove State Park is a step back in time to an era when California families congregated on unspoiled beaches and spent balmy nights in cool little cabins. Located on the northern edge of Laguna Beach, Crystal Cove is a great place for family reunions, surfing, tide pooling and taking in a seaside gourmet meal.

Surf Trestles and San Onofre: Sure the lineup here is crowded. But the waves are awesome, there are lots of smiles, and it is still one of the prettiest and coolest state parks on the planet. Take the groms to surf Lowers or Uppers and to see some of the world’s best surfers taking our sport to new heights. Or take your longboard to Church’s and San Onofre for mellow noseriding and a beach barbecue.

Visit the Sierra Nevadas: This isn’t a beach activity, but it is a fact that the Sierra Nevada

is one of the most beautiful and iconic mountain ranges in the world. The towering Sequoias provide a refuge for urban visitors and wildlife that are really only a few hours from the sweltering suburbs of Southern California. I’m always shocked by the number of surfers who don’t take the time to visit our beautiful natural attraction and the Sierras which includes Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Park.

Bodysurf: For some reason, bodysurfing has become a cool and trendy sport. Of course real bodysurfers know they are about the least trendy and or cool people anywhere. But they are experts at feeling the incredible glide and power of the ocean that bodysurfing permits. So grab a pair of fins and head to the beach and feel the glide. If you are a novice by all means avoid the Wedge. But if you find yourself in Newport Beach during a big south swell, check out the best show in Southern California.

Family Beach Time: For those of us raised in Southern California our memories are chock full of beach scenes—mom drying us off after a cold plunge into the Pacific, setting up our tents with dad at a coastal state park campground, and sipping hot cocoa and singing songs around a beachside campfire. We are lucky to be blessed with hundreds of miles of coastline that are free to use, ours to enjoy, and our responsibility to take are of. So don’t wait—make our coast your priority this summer and all year-round.